All's Fair
by bitchy brunette
Summary: Faye is captured while hunting for a bounty. They’re asking for information he can’t possibly give. What does it all mean? SxF
1. Could've Gone Mad

Title: All's Fair (Ch. 1 – Could've Gone Mad)

Summary: Faye is captured while hunting for a bounty. They're asking for information he can't possibly give. What does it all mean? SxF

Archive: ff.net

Disclaimer: Thanks to Poe for the chapter title. I don't own the artist or Cowboy BeBop, but I will gladly endorse them both for a small fee- heh, just kidding. Psst, go buy Poe's awesome CD "Haunted." You'd do well to buy the CB sessions on DVD, too! ^_~

Comments: kimmie@e-mailanywhere.com

Faye clicked the handcuffs closed with a resolute snap. It was her tenth large bounty in two months, and she was feeling good. Faye shoved the bounty head into the Redtail and used the magnetic clamp on them to secure him down. She climbed into the cockpit and flew off to the local ISSP station where she made quick work of turning him in and getting payment transferred to her account. 

Faye sauntered outside to check her card. Sure enough, she was 2 million woolongs richer. Smiling, she transferred 50,000 woolongs over to another number registered under Francois Appleby. That done, she headed to the market to pick up some groceries. 

**

Faye loaded the Redtail with the sacks, whistling a song to herself. She felt so good, she began to hum, and as she was singing softly, a hand clamped over her mouth. She struggled, reaching for her Glock, tucked into her hip holster. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Miss Valentine. It will only make things harder for you later." the cold voice froze her, and the gun slid from her hip.

She was dragged off, kicking and fighting. 

**

Faye sighed, struggling again against the metal cord that twined about her ankles and up to her wrists, then higher up to a pole suspended from the ceiling. "My legs are getting a little tired." she offered into the darkness. 

"Hello?" she called, straining to see something. 

Sure enough, a dark, tall figure approached, not coming close enough to the glaring light over her for her to clearly see them. Faye twisted her hands again, feeling something run down her wrists. She sincerely hoped it was sweat, but as her hands had lost all feeling a long time ago, she couldn't really be sure. "So who are you? Some bounty I pissed off a while back? It has been a long time since I let one by." he laughed coldly. 

"Oh no, I'm not anything as low as a wanted criminal. They haven't caught onto my crimes yet." Faye rolled her eyes. 

"Okay… so what could you want with little ole' me?" she asked lightly.

"I don't want much from you at all, Valentine. You tell me a little information and then you can get those groceries back to your sick little friend." Faye's unaffected expression twisted into anger.

"What the fuck would you know about that?" her captor ignored this, moving forward.

He stepped into the light and Faye recoiled, terror creeping into her features. "You." she muttered, shaking her head, unable to look into his malice-filled, dead eyes.

He smiled darkly. "Very impressed you would remember me."

"Not hard to forget someone that kidnaps you and then duels with your partner to the death." his face twitched.

"Not quite. But that is precisely what I wanted to speak with you about. You're not an easy woman to track down, Miss Valentine." his voice made her blood feel like it had frozen in her veins.

"And yet you still found me." 

"Where is Spike?" Faye snorted.

"You should know, you're the one that put him there." Vicious smiled at the pain drifting over her expression.

"Where?" he repeated cooly, letting the light glint off the short knife he carried.

Faye stared at him unbelievably. "Are you kidding me?" he neared her, letting the cold steel rest against her shoulder, tracing it up to her chin.

"I assure you that I am anything but kidding." Faye laughed.

She didn't stop until the back of Vicious' hand collided with her cheekbone. Lifting her head back up to face him, a frightening, strange grin on her face, she answered, her voice thick with hate and unbridled mirth. "Six feet under on Mars, just like you planned. Is this what you really brought me here for? You're one sick son of a bitch. No wonder Julia left you for him." Faye gasped as the tip of his blade pierced the skin of her throat, just enough to leave a cut that dripped blood.

"You will leave once I know what I want to know and not a minute before. Of course, there are many ways of making you talk. You may not walk out of here. In fact. You may have to crawl." he grinned.

Faye stared at him determinedly. "You don't scare me. Spike is dead, and even if I knew where he was, if he really was alive, I wouldn't tell you. Let's get real, ok, he wouldn't come back here. You killed him 6 months ago, so stop fucking with my head." Vicious snarled.

"That isn't possible." Faye rolled her eyes.

"Why is it so hard for you to believe, you were there." she spoke through clenched teeth, afraid that if she let them loose a scream would rip from her throat.

"You don't understand anything, do you? For one so close to him, you don't know anything." he spat, anger clouding his face.

Faye shook off the remark about closeness- as she recalled they were really anything but. "Then make me understand. How could he possibly have survived that? I saw his body." she admitted, barely keeping her eyes open as she saw flashes of that fateful day so long ago blur her vision.

"He and I are one. I am alive, so he must be as well. I want to know where I can find him." Faye turned this over in her mind. 

Either Vicious had gone completely crazy, or, well, he'd gone completely crazy. Spike was dead; she'd seen him herself. "I told you already, I don't know! Spike is dead, he's gone, it's done, get over it!" she screamed, feeling the cut stretch as her jaw moved rapidly. 

A shot snapped the wire, and she quickly rolled out of the way, staring into the darkness to see who'd freed her. "I knew you'd come." Vicious wasn't even paying attention to her. 

His eyes were focused on a spot in the dark. "Come out and show your little friend just how alive you are." he drew his kitana, and the shape began to move out of the darkness.

END CHAPTER 1 -- 


	2. I'll Be Your Shelter

Title: All's Fair (Ch. 2 -- "I'll Be Your Shelter" ) Summary: See Ch. 1 Archive: ff.net Disclaimer: See Ch. 1. I do not own "I'll Be your Shelter," by Taylor Dayne. Comments: kimmie@e-mailanywhere.com  
  
Recap: Faye brought in a bounty and collected the reward, sending half a million woolongs to Ed's bank account. She was bringing groceries home to the Bebop and a "sick friend" when Vicious and some goons captured her. Vicious tied her up and threatened her with death if she didn't reveal Spike's location. Vicious mentioned sketchy things like his oneness with our favorite dead cowboy, ranting that Spike was not our favorite "dead" cowboy. Faye taunted Vicious, and he cut her, when someone comes to her aide. Here we begin.  
Faye could not make out the shadowed figure, try as she might. Her lips pressed together, pushing Vicious' crazy words out of her mind. There was no way that her mysterious savior was lunkhead. She'd seen his corpse. Faye set her teeth and went to work trying to slide her wrists from their tight constraints. Her fingers and wrists felt slick, but whether from sweat or blood she didn't know. Faye could taste victory, and at last, the ropes loosened enough for her to pull out her hands.  
  
She looked up. Vicious had drawn his kitana, and was advancing into the darkness. "I knew you would come if I tied up a pretty prize." he leered, sword gleaming.  
  
"It was me you wanted all along, so come on. Here's your chance." Faye knew that Vicious was far too preoccupied to notice her bent down to her ankles, hurriedly working on the last knots that kept her there.  
  
"I assume you finally understand." Vicious continued as though the other man had never spoken.  
  
"We're bound." his voice was threatening.  
  
"You could never fake your death while my own heart was still beating. How could you have been so stupid? I knew all along. I was simply waiting for the perfect opportunity." Faye felt her lungs compress, ramming all her air out past her open lips.  
  
It had to be him. But it was too late now. Her booted feet were running as fast as they could carry her. Away from Vicious, away from his goons, away from Spike. He had gone to see who he was. She had left to preserve who she was. A survivor.  
  
**  
  
Faye let the grocery bags hit the counter of the kitchenette with a quiet thump, just in case Jet was asleep. "Hey, is that you?" he called from his bedroom.  
  
"Yeah. How you doing?" he shuffled to the doorway, glaring at her.  
  
"You were supposed to be home with that bounty hours ago! What the hell-" his scolding slumped into a fit of coughs.  
  
Faye ran over to him, leading him back to bed. "I told you not to get up." Jet frowned at the long gash on her cheek.  
  
Her wrists were raw and red, one having a large patch of skin completely missing from the bottom of it. Faye smirked, pretending it wasn't a big deal. "He was a little more than I thought he'd be." she lied easily, pulling up the covers.  
  
"But I deposited the cash, and soon I'll be able to afford the treatment. When's your next appointment?" Jet gestured to a calendar.  
  
Faye went into the kitchen for a glass of water. "Drink this." she handed it to him, watching him comply.  
  
"Alright, it says next Tuesday. Don't let me forget. I know you hate them, but-"  
  
"I'm ok, Faye. Go ahead and put away those groceries." Faye smiled softly.  
  
"Ok, ok. But only if you promise to eat some soup." Jet shook his head.  
  
"I'm not really hungry, Faye." she cocked her head, eyes flashing.  
  
"Oh no you don't. You're going to eat some soup or I'm going to set up an intravenous tube. Either way, you'll be having some." she warned him, her hands on her hips in a threatening pose.  
  
Jet sighed deeply. "Oh all right. But don't put in any barley! I hate barley!" Jet growled, sounding so much like his old self Faye wanted to cry.  
  
"You know I won't." she promised, leaving his room.  
  
About 4 months after Spike had died; Jet had finally been forced to go to a doctor about some pains he'd been having in his stomach. The pains turned out to be a growth on the intestinal wall. The growth, once it had been run through a biopsy, turned out to be cancer. Jet had to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments every two weeks. His health had deteriorated, and now a rare day was one he was able to hobble around the ship, attending to his beloved bonsai or doing some maintenance on the Red Tail. Faye hated to see Jet like this, and as much pain as she got from it, she knew his was worse. Jet hated being an invalid.  
  
He hated that Faye was the sole breadwinner. Some days things were pretty bad, but days like this, when Jet was able to stay awake and argue with her, when she was able to buy groceries and make sure Ed was doing ok were the ones she kept going for. Faye set herself to washing vegetables and heating some stock for the soup.  
  
Her mind kept drifting to her kidnapping and untimely, half-rescue by the shadowed man. "It wasn't. And even if it were, that wouldn't be something to worry Jet about. No, I was right to lie about the bounty." Faye winced as water ran over her raw, red wrists.  
  
The open laptop on the desk bleeped with an incoming message. Faye dumped her small cubed veggies into the bubbling stock and turned down the heat a bit before hurrying to answer it. "Hi." she greeted the open channel.  
  
The picture flickered open. A face she'd never thought to see again wavered, filled with static from a bad channel. Faye felt her mouth work up and down, as her useless lips and tongue tried to form a coherent word or two. "Don't worry, I won't expect an up front payment for saving your life earlier. We can work out an installment type deal." he assured her, a cocky grin spread over his visage.  
  
"Why you-" she began loudly, then remembering, quickly lowered her voice. "What the hell are you doing?"  
  
"Alive?" he finished, never missing a beat.  
  
Faye sighed. She remembered how things used to be as this conversation turned into another of the old verbal boxing matches. "You know, I don't really want to deal with this now. Thanks for distracting him while I saved myself." she snapped, feeling his vivacity sap any energy she had left.  
  
"Open the docking bay." he ordered her.  
  
Faye frowned deeply, showing the beginning of wrinkles along her forehead and around her mouth. Spike suddenly noticed how much older she looked. What the hell had been going on since he died? He looked back up into the screen and realized she'd been talking for some time now. "-and you just come back here thinking that you own the place! Well let me tell you something, Mr. I'm Too Good To Let My Friends Know That I'm Ok, Mr. I Faked My Own Death Twice, Look At Me, we've been doing just fine here and if you want to mess everything up again-" he rolled his eyes.  
  
"Yes, Faye, because I was always the one to mess things up before." she stared at him darkly.  
  
"Wait, what was Vicious talking about back there? He said something about being joined, and that you'd never be rid of each other. He knew you weren't dead, even when we didn't. How? Is he crazy, or what?" she asked, forgetting her earlier spiel about letting Spike back onboard.  
  
"Let me into the BeBop and I'll tell you everything over dinner. I can see Jet's rustled something up." there was that frown again.  
  
"For your information, I cooked it." she shut off, but Spike could see the hangar doors slowly opening to let the Swordfish II inside.  
  
Spike shut off his ship's engine and jumped out. He looked around. No Jet, no Faye. "So much for a welcoming committee," he muttered to himself, strolling into the main part of the ship.  
  
A good, soupy smell was wafting to him from the kitchen. Fueled by hunger, Spike lifted the lid on the large pot, taking a whiff. "Mmmm." he grabbed the ladle, but Faye rushed in, smacking it out of his hand.  
  
"Hey! I'm busy, get out." she pushed him out of the kitchen, serving the soup into bowls and cutting up a loaf of bread.  
  
Spike wasn't paying attention to the food anymore, however. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked, looking at the reupholstered couch.  
  
It was now a classy, soft and comfortable looking grey. A pretty afghan was draped over the back, and a painting hung on the wall behind it. The ship's computer was completely revamped with a new flat screen and hard drive. The small TV was replaced with a moderately sized one that sat on a new wooden stand. "It looks like women live here now." he observed, his nose crinkling in distaste.  
  
"A woman does live here." she snapped, setting his bowl on the nice coffee table.  
  
"Use a coaster, you beast." she gestured to the stand on the table.  
  
Spike followed that order, but didn't sit down to enjoy the food. "Where's Jet? What does he say about all of this frilly stuff?" the large man came shuffling to the door of his room.  
  
"Hey, who've you got over here, Faye?" his voice trailed off as he saw Spike standing before the coffee table.  
  
Faye sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you not to get up?" she asked gently, moving to help him back.  
  
"What's going on? I must be dreaming again." Jet said frankly, allowing Faye to take his arm.  
  
"No, it's not a dream." she told him, setting up a bed tray and placing the bowl down.  
  
Faye started to lift his spoon, as Spike watched. "No, I can." Jet insisted.  
  
He did it, very slowly, but it was done. His hand shook just the slightest bit as he brought the spoonful to his mouth. Spike stood in silence, not understanding. Faye and Spike left Jet to his dinner. "What's he got? Space flu?" Spike guessed, having heard it was going around trade depots and other commerce-centered planets.  
  
"No." Faye tried to avoid him by starting her dinner.  
  
Spike moved her bowl away. "Why aren't you telling me?" Faye glared up at him.  
  
"Look at him, Spike. Does that look like a simple case of space flu? God, I wish it was." she let her body slump, hiding her face in her hands.  
  
Spike took her hands away from her face, hanging onto her wrists. "Ow, Stop Spike, you're hurting me!" his grasp tore open the long tear in her flesh, drawing blood.  
  
He drew back, his face a cold mask. "What is it, Faye?" Faye nursed her wound.  
  
"It's cancer, Spike. Jet's got colon cancer. Twice a month he's got to get chemotherapy and radiation treatments. That's the reason we've been hanging out around commerce planets." Faye admitted.  
  
"Let me get that." Spike told her lamely, his sort of apology for causing it.  
  
Spike wound a clean length of bandage around her wrist. "But- he was healthy. How-"  
  
"They don't know, could be in the family, could be something from his days on strange, uncharted planets as a cop. No one knows. He- the doctor says-" her voice kept cracking.  
  
"What is it?" he prodded, cutting the strip.  
  
"He might last 6 months. Maybe a year, if he's lucky. I've got to take care of him. I do." she added harshly.  
  
"I get money and put it toward his medical bills every month. When I can I send some-"  
  
"To Ed and Ein. The rest goes toward the ship and the food. I know, Faye, I've been watching your accounts." a tear ran down her cheek.  
  
"I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't afford all of his treatments, and if I don't pay, they're going to let him die." Spike frowned, tying her bandage tightly.  
  
Faye winced a bit, but left it. "We'll find a way." she looked up at him expectantly.  
  
"We'll?" she asked, her mouth turning up the slightest bit.  
  
Spike grinned back at her. "You heard me." he gulped up his soup and got up for another helping.  
  
End Ch. 2  
  
Look for Ch. 3, coming soon! We'll hear from everyone's favorite data dog and genius kid! We'll also find out a new scheme for fast money, and run into some bad, bad men. Maybe Spike will even get around to explaining Vicious' weird spiel back in chapter one. 


	3. Dreaming My Dreams

Title: All's Fair Ch. 3 -- "Dreaming My Dreams"  
  
Summary: In this installment, Vicious' cryptic speech from the first chapter is answered, Ed and Ein make an appearance, and Spike comes up with a plan. Archive: ff.net Disclaimer: I don't own anything worth mentioning, especially not Cowboy BeBop or "Dreaming My Dreams," written by the Cranberries. Comments: pining_away@mail.com  
  
Recap: Faye escaped Vicious' clutches, leaving the shadowed man alone with him. She came back to the ship and made Jet dinner, which was interrupted by a very much alive Spike Spiegel! Faye told him everything about their recent situation, including the fact that Jet has cancer, and may die without the expensive treatments he gets at a medical facility. Spike resolved to find a way to get the money.  
  
Faye slowly opened her eyes and climbed slowly out of her bed. She stared at herself in the mirror for a long moment. "So it was all a dream," she muttered, stretching.  
  
She walked down the hall to the bathroom door, which was closed. Faye tried it tentatively. It was locked. Immediately, an angry voice snapped, "Hey, it's occupied!" Faye couldn't help but laugh.  
  
The door opened, and Spike emerged in a puff of steam. "What's so funny?" he asked, rubbing a towel over his blob of hair.  
  
Faye shook her head. "What's the big idea?" Jet demanded gruffly, trying to look angry.  
  
Spike grinned at the two of them. "So, which of you is making breakfast?" Jet walked slowly to the couch.  
  
"Faye?" Jet asked expectantly.  
  
She huffed, putting her hands on he hips. "I think you two take me for granted." Spike raised an eyebrow, tapping his finger on his wrist where a watch should be.  
  
"Well woman, are you going to stand around all day doing nothing, or are you going to rustle us up something to eat?" his laughter was infectious as she let out a yelp and chased him around the ship.  
  
**  
  
After breakfast Jet took a nap on the couch and Faye and Spike sat down to talk. "So when is the next payment due?" Faye sighed, picking up her bowl and placing it in the sink full of sudsy water.  
  
"They're due at the end of every month." Spike followed suit.  
  
"That's in a week, Faye. What do you have?" she bit her lower lip, thinking of finances, adding and subtracting in her head.  
  
"Maybe about 250 woolongs." she paused. "Wait, that was before I messed up the RedTail after the gigolo bounty, so. 50 woolongs."  
  
Spike groaned. "That gives us exactly one week to come up with, what did you say they want per month?" Faye didn't look at him as she responded.  
  
"5,000 woolongs." her voice raised abnormally at the last syllable.  
  
"Hey, don't worry about it." Spike's tone softened somewhat. "We'll find a way somehow, right? I mean, you've managed alone this far, and with me here- "  
  
"It will be even more of a challenge." she said playfully, turning around, eyes shining with tears that nearly had fallen over the seriousness of the conversation.  
  
Spike shook his head. "Hey, isn't Bigshot coming on soon?" she nodded, and they turned on the small kitchen set Faye had gotten.  
  
"Looks like there are three right here in this system that we can grab, and that will leave us only 100 woolongs short of the 5,000." Faye frowned as she threw a dishtowel onto the counter.  
  
"But what are we gonna do for the last 100?" Spike shrugged.  
  
"I'm sure we can worry about that when it happens. Is the RedTail ready for action?"  
  
"Yes." she answered suspiciously.  
  
"Good. That's what we're taking." Faye's eyebrows knit together.  
  
"Is there something wrong with the Swordfish?" her question was met with one of Spike's looks.  
  
"I know, I know." she sighed. "You don't want to talk about it, right? She can get us there and back."  
  
Faye stood, stretching. "I don't know, Spike, I guess I can understand that you don't really feel like talking about everything all the time, but I know I am interested in what the hell really happened out there. I want to know what the fuck Vicious meant by all that "you and I are bound" garbage, so if you feel like talking, you know where I am." she stalked off. Spike crushed the smoldering end of his cigarette into the ashtray nearby and leaned back, laying his booted feet on the counter. "And keep your feet off the counter!" her voice grated to him from the distant hall.  
  
Spike grinned. And did what he was told.  
  
**  
  
A small beep woke Spike up. Slowly he lifted his head from the counter, turning bleary eyes on the flashing monitor. He sat up and gave it his full attention. A small yellow dot in one corner moved across the screen, growing larger and larger. Finally, it was obvious the dot was a big grinning face. "One new message!" a perky voice chirped.  
  
The yellow face opened as though it were a piece of paper and Ed's beaming face greeted Spike. "Hey hey!" she cried happily, barks obvious in the background near her.  
  
"Hi Ed. What have you been up to lately?" he drawled, smiling.  
  
He'd never admit it, but he was glad to see the girl's face beaming at him from the screen. "Spike-person has returned! Yay! Yippee! Hooray! Ed has news. Ed is going to come back, help BeBop. Faye-faye needs Ed! Spike- person and Jet-person need Ed! Ed has already hacked BeBop. See you sooooooon!" she cried, and before Spike could rattle off one word, the yellow dot crumpled up and the connection was broken.  
  
"Great. A reunion." Spike sighed, letting himself fall back onto the couch. "Now I remember why I hate kids. And pets. And-"  
  
"Women with attitudes. How many times do you harp on that same old tune?" Faye asked him, dropping down onto a chair and resting her feet on the coffee table.  
  
She picked up the pack of cigarettes sitting on the coffee table and tapped it, sliding one out of the box. Spike watched her warily, wondering if he was up for another round of arguing about his attempt at rescue earlier. "Stop looking at me like that." Spike laughed.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Faye leaned forward for a light.  
  
Spike acquiesced, and waited as she took the first drag before explaining. "Like a hungry bear looking for trout." she looked over at him.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about." he broke their eye contact as he started innocently at the floor.  
  
"Alright, but unless you wanna take your hunk of junk and fend for yourself on Earth, I would start talking." she put out her cigarette and flicked it at him, a winning grin lighting up her face.  
"Hey, watch what you're calling a hunk of junk. Your RedTail couldn't even hope to take my Swordfish." Faye laughed.  
  
"Oh yeah it could. In fact, it's gonna haul your Fishie right out into Earth's oceans!" Faye dashed out of the room, no doubt headed for the landing bay.  
  
"Faye! Don't you dare!" he cried, leaping up and chasing after her.  
  
A/N: I know, I know, so far every other paragraph has ended with a chase scene. But look at it this way, I am keeping up the promise of S/F and action at the same time! Hooray! I also realize I didn't touch down on the whole Vicious thing, but I made it pretty damn obvious anyway, so you can just wait another chapter or two.  
  
Look for the next chapter in the "All's Fair" series, number four! It will (hopefully) feature a heartfelt discussion between Faye and Spike about Vicious, a real bounty chase, and Ed and Ein's return to the BeBop! 


End file.
